It looks fairly certain that the Illinois General Assembly is going to try to pass a Physician-Assisted Suicide bill in Springfield during the few days of Lame Duck Session next week (before the new, 104th General Assembly is sworn in). The vote will be close, so please contact your Illinois House and Illinois Senate legislators in their district offices before Friday, January 3rd at 5PM. We are asking you to also contact these same legislators again in their Springfield offices sometime between January 4th-7th (this is Lame Duck Session).

Find your elected officials by clicking HERE.

We don’t know the bill number yet. We won’t know that until Saturday night. (The language will be identical to SB 3499). We encourage you to email and call your state senator and state representative to oppose “physician-assisted suicide” in general. Your voice makes a difference because there are some fence-sitters and legislators who could end up voting no if they hear from their constituents.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to your state lawmakers now. Ask them to vigorously oppose physician-assisted suicide. Below are some points that should be made to our lawmakers as they wrestle with this issue.

Please feel free to pick and choose from the following list whichever point(s) you find most helpful in making your case to your state lawmakers:

1.) Life is a gift and equally valuable even in times of suffering

Scripture teaches that life is a gift to be cherished and cared for at all stages until natural death and that it is morally wrong to intentionally end one’s own life or that of another person, including at their request.

2.) Assisted suicide is based on a flawed idea of autonomy

Assisted suicide can never be an isolated act but is always deeply relational, involving many beyond the dying person such as family, friends, and healthcare professionals.

3.) Assisted suicide is based on a misleading view of compassion

Appeals for assisted suicide are often based on a false view of ‘compassion’ which fails to address the reality of suffering that is part of being human. A consistent biblical worldview demands that ‘human compassion consists not in causing death, but in embracing the sick, in supporting them in their difficulties, in offering them affection, attention, and the means to alleviate suffering,’ such as through nursing homes, hospices, and chaplaincy work.

4.) Calling assisted suicide ‘dignity in dying’ ultimately passes judgment on the value of human life

Those who propose assisted suicide are, implicitly, denying that God’s gift of life has an inherent value beyond its abilities and capacities. Deliberately bringing about death in the name of ‘dignity’ denies the innate dignity of every human life which, in turn, has damaging consequences for how society views those with severe disabilities, those who are dying, and those in great discomfort.

5.) Assisted suicide undermines the medical duty to care for patients

Legalizing the intentional killing of patients would gravely undermine the vocation of healthcare professionals to care for life until its natural end. Trust between doctor and patient would be undermined by the difficulty in accurately predicting the outcome of terminal illness.

6.) Assisted suicide undervalues the lives of people with disabilities

The legalization of assisted suicide would be likely to result in a change in the way society views those with disabilities by effectively reducing the value of life to its physical or psychological capabilities such that those living with disabling, terminal, or progressive conditions could easily become disillusioned with their lives to the extent that they see death as preferable. The dehumanizing effect of assisted suicide legislation on people living with disabilities has been highlighted by the United Nations which has expressed serious concern at a growing international trend in providing access to assisted suicide largely based on whether people have a disability.

7.) People may choose assisted suicide because they feel a burden

Evidence from Oregon and Canada where assisted suicide has been legalized demonstrates that those who seek it often report a fear of burdening their loved ones with their suffering, which is particularly concerning for those who are elderly and infirm.¹⁰ The fear of being burdensome would be amplified by the current health and social care crises and cost-of-living crisis.¹¹

8.) We cannot know for sure if people seeking assisted suicide have full mental capacity

Prescribing lethal medication for individuals suffering from suicidal ideation would be a grave betrayal of the public health duty to save life. Expressions of suicidal ideation by any other group, such as young women suffering from eating disorders, would be treated as psychological distress requiring compassionate care rather than as cause for lethal medication. International experience suggests that there are serious dangers to those who have mental health conditions from the gradual extension of assisted suicide legislation.

9.) Legalizing assisted suicide is likely to lead to a slippery slope

The experience of other jurisdictions illustrates the slippery slope of assisted suicide legislation from hard cases to more comprehensive provision. Oregon, often referenced as a model template for mild assisted suicide legislation, now allows assisted suicide for non-terminal conditions including anorexia, arthritis, and kidney failure.

-Canada, legally and culturally very similar to England and Wales, now offers assisted suicide when death is not ‘reasonably foreseeable’.

-Belgium has expanded their provision of assisted suicide to include children.

10.) Investing in palliative care is a better way to support people suffering at the end of life

Palliative care is a proven way to relieve pain, provide comfort, and offer comprehensive and individualized treatment that encompasses all aspects of care—physical, emotional, practical, and spiritual. Christian citizens must be committed to protecting and valuing life at all stages, no matter how physically or psychologically limited, and our opposition to assisted suicide as an attack on the inherent dignity of human life.

Physician-assisted suicide is now legal in Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Maine, Hawaii, California, Colorado, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
~The Lord Jesus Christ (John 10:10)~